Month: September 2017

I’m sure all of you thought that this blog now belonged solely to Jason and that my posts had gone the way of the Paradise Parrot. Well, never fear – I’m back with post about our trip up north!

I made a nature documentary featuring some of the birds we saw in Darwin, Fogg Dam and Kakadu. There’s also a special guest appearance from a non-winged critter, the salt-water crocodile. It’s basically like low budget David Attenborough except, you know, female and Canadian sounding. Enjoy!

The Yellow Water is a massive river-wetland habitat in the heart of Kakadu. Visitors to Kakadu are privileged to have two ways to see it: there is a short walk of a few hundred meters along a platform that gives great views of a limited portion of the habitat, and the two-hour Yellow Water Cruise that gives extensive views of the habitat.

However, even though the platform walk is short, it actually gives pretty good views of wetland birds. On this walk, you can see Great, Intermediate, and Cattle Egret in large numbers. Other waterbirds like Magpie Goose, Nankeen Night Heron, Plumed Whistling Duck, Green Pygmy Goose, Australasian Darter, Comb-crested Jacana, Radjah Shelduck, and Royal Spoonbill are pretty much guaranteed. We even saw two Brolga mates. If you also visit other wetlands on a NT trip like the impressive Fogg Dam, Mamukala, and Anbangbang, you’ll probably see around 90% of all the possible wetland birds you could theoretically see without actually having to go on the cruise.We had a great view of this Nankeen Night Heron right from the end of the Yellow Water Platform walk, with no need to go on the cruise.Continue reading “Kakadu Yellow Water Cruise and Platform Walk”

My favourite birding site in Melbourne is Royal Park. It is less busy than Royal Botanic Gardens and not at all seedy like Yarra Bend Park. It is also one of the largest areas of green space in Melbourne and is one of the few places where you can see a few honeyeaters besides Noisy Miner and Red Wattlebird. On a typical hour visit we see around thirty species.

Much of the park is not interesting. In fact, when I first went to Royal Park I thought it was a waste of time, and that is because I went to the wrong spot. The right spot is the area starting from Royal Park Station heading to Trinwarren Tam-Boore wetlands and is a goldmine for birds. Start along the shared bike-pedestrian Capital City Trail, where one of the first birds you’ll probably see is Bell Miner. Crested Pigeon is also common along this path.

1. You need to get up early

You can absolutely see many birds without ever getting up early. It’s true that birds are often more active in the earliest of mornings, and some species might only be seen then, but there are also hundreds of species that you can see at 11AM as well. As long as you travel around a bit, you can literally find new species for years before having to get up early.

Instead of getting up early, why not go birding in the evening and enjoy the sunset at the same time? Photo by Jason Polak at Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin.

2. You must travel to exotic locations

Definitely false! Of the 219 species we’ve seen in Australia so far, we’ve seen 61 in Melbourne, though Melbourne was not always the first place we saw them. Just check out eBird and see how many cool birds are spotted just around the corner. Birds are everywhere. That’s the cool thing about them.

But don’t expect to see the Night Parrot in Melbourne. Eventually you’ll probably want to travel a bit: we’ve driven almost 5000km just to get up to 219 species (and counting)!

This Little Black Cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris) was seen right in Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens. No traveling necessary! Photo by Jason Polak.

3. You need to know the difference between scapulars and tertials to be a birder

That is, you need to know about bird anatomy. A little technical knowledge can enhance bird appreciation but it is not at all necessary for the vast majority of bird identification problems. Most birds are easy to identify. All it takes a field guide and some patience.

We recently took a twelve-day trip to the Top End of the Northern Territory: three days in Darwin, then the rest mostly in Kakadu returning with a stop at Pine Creek and Litchfield before returning back to Darwin to fly to Melbourne.The Magpie Goose is rare in Victoria, but seeing hundreds is guaranteed in the Top End. Photo by Jason Polak.
Although I plan to write more posts on the trip including a detailed guide of Kakadu NP, readers may be interested in our complete bird list to get an idea of what is possible:Continue reading “Quick Top End Trip Summary”